Colorado State football continuing to build

Rams look to close out season strong

FORT COLLINS -- Three games remain on the schedule, and with last week's loss to Wyoming, any hopes the Colorado State football team had for the postseason are gone.

A natural thought is to start building toward next year, but in reality, the Rams have been doing that all along. More underclassmen fill out the depth chart than seniors, only six of which are listed as starters. What they would like is a bit of momentum heading into the offseason, an approach that starts with today's game with UNLV at Lubick Field at Hughes Stadium (5 p.m.; KTVD-5).

"I think definitely there is some of that," CSU coach Jim McElwain said, his team at 2-7 overall, 1-4 in the Mountain West. "Would it help? Heck yeah. It would help my sanity. The heck with anybody else."

It is agreed by all that wins could translate into momentum. Then again, McElwain looks back on the first week of the season and points out the team did absolutely nothing to build off the victory over Colorado. But for some of the Rams, they could care less about momentum or moral victories, anything that falls short of the actual desired goal.

"Honestly, that would be a big momentum builder. Personally, I'm not worried about building momentum, I just want to win the games," tackle Jared Biard said. "That's all I want really. I don't look ahead, I look at each week. Right now, my whole focus is UNLV, and I want to win that game.

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"You play the game to win. You don't ever play the game to lose, I'll say that first. We want to go out there and win every week. That's what we're doing. We're trying to put in work every day -- we want to get these three wins. That's why we play the game. We don't ever want to go out there and lose. You don't want to have morale victories, you want to go win the game. That's all we're trying to do."

UNLV (2-8, 2-3) is very much trying to do the same thing and comes to town after an impressive 35-7 win over a surprising New Mexico team that is still hoping to become bowl eligible. The Rebels have had their struggles, for sure, but they do possess a strong run game led by Tim Cornett, and quarterback Nick Sherry is growing up each game of his redshirt freshman season.

And for all the setbacks the Rams have had at quarterback, they feel they have signs of growth to point to, as well. Conner Smith, who will make his third start behind center, had a strong fourth quarter last week after struggling the first two. The running game has produced a pair of 100-yard rushers in successive weeks, as well.

But defensively, the Rams are still struggling to stop teams early, with six of eight having scored opening-drive touchdowns.

Not exactly something that helps with gaining momentum.

But the Rams hope to change all of that, this week and heading into next year. The youngsters want to give the seniors something fond to remember, and as McElwain vows to not push them aside and let them enjoy the time they've earned, the seniors are just as focused on the teammates they're set to leave behind.

"Absolutely. I'm going to be a CSU Ram for life," defensive tackle Zach Tiedgen said. "I'm going to be back for all the CSU games next year, hopefully, and their success in the future is a big thing for the seniors. We're trying to take them under our wing, show them how things are done, how they need to be done for success happening in the future."

Two of the final games are at home, with a trip to Boise State in between. Colorado State hoped the end of the season wouldn't come in November, but it will. Even McElwain wondered aloud if the fans would be all that interested to see how it finishes. But if the fans do, he hopes to show them a team worth watching that day and beyond.

"When you see the great things that are happening and why aren't the results what you want, it obviously hurts," McElwain said. "But I also know where we're headed. And sometimes, you may need to fall before you rise. I'm not saying we're falling, because we going to come out and compete for our fans these last two home games and that game in the middle. That's what we're going to do."

UNLV running backs vs. the CSU front seven -- The Rams are beat up along the defensive line, and with a UNLV sporting a big offensive line and two capable backs, getting some kind of traction in this area will be key. If the Rams can control the run and force Sherry into some mistakes, they have a chance.

Prediction -- Honestly, Colorado State has not matched up well with teams that come straight at them and pound away in the run game. UNLV will try to do exactly that, and likely, will. UNLV 31, CSU 24.

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